The traditional approach to managing computer systems has been to design and deploy the management system based primarily on which particular type of hardware platform that the subject systems execute on. For example, systems management solutions may be focused on mainframe computers, mid-range computers, networks, LANs, etc. This is a purely technology based approach to systems management which does not align the management of the system to the business functionality of the system or the business requirements of the user of the system. The result of this is that management staff become increasingly remote from the business that the information technology (“IT”) supports, which in turn results in a lack of awareness and understanding of the business challenges facing the end users.
For example, some companies derive a significant percentage of their revenues from strategic outsourcing services provided to other companies, such as banks and other financial institutions, which are largely dependent upon information technology to support their products and services to their customers. After such a bank contracts with the strategic outsourcing services of a service provider, it will then go in and hire most of the staff who had been previously running the information technology shop at the bank, and attempt to consolidate equipment and operations more efficiently. Quite often, such information technology shops have grown up from being very small, relying upon individuals more than process. Additionally, systems, hardware, software, and processes will not be that well documented, quite frankly because the people who have developed the IT for the bank have been there for so long that they keep it all in their heads. The advantage that the outsourcing company can bring to this situation is that it has invested considerable research and development into defining processes around these type of IT disciplines, such as data storage and output management, system administration, event management, paging and escalation, security management, operations automation, change orders, etc. The outsourcing company will enter the situation and often apply such process to more efficiently operate the information technology already existing within the bank's technology systems. Payment is in many different ways, such as on a per workstation basis, per server basis, number of employees needed, etc. The whole operation will then be run for the bank, including problem and change management around that structure, often including 24-hour assistance and a help desk.
The problem with this process in general is that it has to be reinvented each time the outsourcing company goes into a new outsourcing arrangement with a new customer. The reason is that different companies have disparate tools. For example, one company may use Microsoft products, while another company uses Lotus products. One company may use Hitachi mainframes, while another company may use IBM mainframes. Even within one particular information technology system within a company, disparate systems, software, and hardware may be used among the various locations. There is some advantage that the outsourcing company can employ by having the same employees cover the information technology needs of a multiple of companies by sharing their time among those companies. However, the design of the outsourcing operation still is often done on an ad hoc basis, dependent upon the particular systems in place at the new customer.
Therefore, what is needed in the art, is a way for an outsourcing company to leverage from the knowledge gained while performing such outsourcing services from one client to the next.